Early Morning
by Alfheimchick
Summary: Steve and Thor use a kitchen. Natasha makes brownies and Clint and Tony eat them. The team celebrate Natasha's birthday. Thor and Jane's engagement party. Clintasha, Pepperony and Thane FTW!
1. Early Morning

**Early Morning**

Tony was startled as he walked into the kitchen to see Natasha there, calmly drinking a glass of water, wearing a dress and apron.

"Evening, or should I say morning, Natashalie."

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "_Morning_, Stark." She got up from her stool and walked to the sink, placing the glass there on the rack.

"Um, did JARVIS lace my coffee with a very effective hallucinogenic, or are you indeed wearing a _dress,_ with an _apron_ that has black and white roses on it?"

"What brand of hallucinogenic does JARVIS use? It _is_ powerful."

"When on earth did Pepper buy an apron? And _why_? It's not like any of us cook. Can we?"

"Clint does, I do as well. And Pep didn't buy this, it's mine, the roses are awesome. Steve told me he makes a mean fondue, too. He mentioned that your dad taught him."

"Hm. So what do you cook? Chocolate Brownies?" His last question was put forward with the hopeful air of a kid who sees 'a really awesome ride' at the theme park.

"What, are they something even a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist can't get here?" She raised an eyebrow at him, amused that he liked something so 'common'.

"Not _proper_ chocolate brownies."

"You sound like Clint. He has it for breakfast with his coffee. You know, we got engaged before he found out I could cook, we still had different apartments, and we'd always eaten at SHIELD or out during a mission. When he did, Clint decided that we should have chocolate brownie as our wedding cake. So we did."

She let out a genuinely amused and happy laugh, smiling softly. It had been the first thing she cooked for him, and as it turned out, she hit the bulls eye.

"Smooth Legolas, smooth." As he spoke, he replayed her laugh in his head. Thinking back to when she was 'working' for him, and more recently to the week since the Chitauri invasion, he hadn't heard her laugh like that except once, when she had been talking to Clint after he had been released from medical at SHIELD.

"I'm not sure what Pepper's going to want for our wedding, but she has good taste, so." He shrugged, if Pep was happy, he was happy.

"Clint and I won the wager we had going with Bruce on that. Made twenty bucks." She smiled as if she were trying to hold back a flood of laughter. They had also _lost_ a bet with Banner. Namely that Pepper would make Tony sweat before she said yes to forever being the wife of a genius, billionaire, _ex_-playboy, philanthropist who did not play well with others. She had not however, merely making a comment some minutes later about 'this time having 50 percent of the moment. Right?'.

Tony coughed, Bruce had told him about both bets over a beer a few nights ago.

"Why are you up this early anyway?"

Her face lost a little of the cheerful smile and she twisted the slim gold band on her left hand as she spoke.

"Clint had a nightmare about Phil's death. He's in the gym at the moment. These days I sometimes prefer cooking to beating up a punching bag, plus the sugar in the brownies helps get Clint back to normal. Steve should try it."

"Our Capsicle? Leaving him in a modern kitchen sounds _brilliant_. Mind you, I could video it from afar and laugh."

"Put him with Thor and it would be _even better_. JARVIS, what's the ETA on the brownies and Clint finishing up?"

"Your chocolate brownie concoction will be completed in approximately zero-point-five minutes, and Agent Barton is minus two seconds away."

"Morning Stark. Did I hear JARVIS say _brownies,_ Nat?" Natasha was smiling again as Clint started talking. The reverential tone he used when he talked about her cooking always did that. Sure she could kill you in fifty different ways in half a second, a hundred more in another second, but sometimes this was more fun. Especially as it looked like she'd be able to threaten Stark with the withdrawal of brownies if necessary. Life was sweet.

"Hey Clint, perfect timing. Would you gentlemen care to try some? Obviously, they're hot." As she spoke she took the tray out of the oven and cut the slice into pieces.

"Should we get ready for going out, Nat?" Clint spoke around the food in his mouth, smiling when she laughed at two of her closest friends devouring food that was still too hot. For_ normal_ people.

"Mmm. 'Bye Tony."

Putting his arm around her waist, Clint and Natasha left the kitchen, both of them looking and feeling happier than they had earlier in the day.

Eating his hot brownie, Tony could only wave at them. They were a cute couple, and they were noticably happier when they were together. He mentally face-palmed when he realized what he had just thought. He desperately needed Pepper to start liking films _other_ than rom-coms. For what was left of his sanity. And science.

As they made their way to the elevator, he could still hear bits of their conversation.

"Is that the dress we bought in Budapest, Tasha?"

"Still my favorite green."

The End

* * *

Hi guys, thankyou for reading.

This is my first fanfiction, so please leave a review with things you liked/absolutely abhorred.

Thankyou so much!


	2. Guilt tripping

I haven't quite finished writing the kitchen chapter yet, but this is to set it up. Sorry guys. :/ Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing and favouriting! Hugs to you all.

* * *

**Prelude to Kitchen**

"But Tony, it all runs on _electricity_!" The voice sounded desperate.

"We've been helping you catch up with that Steve, if you're careful you'll be fine!"

"Yes, but me, completely alone, with electricity!"

Steve tried to find the words that would adequately convey his horror at the prospect. He gave up and continued with a wild hand gesture and definite shake of his head, even though Tony couldn't see him.

"It equals not cool Stark! Plus I'm supposed to be making a cake I haven't cooked in seventy-five years!"

"Alright big guy. Calm down. First of all, JARVIS is always there, watch-"

He coughed into his phone when his brain caught up with his words. No need to make JARVIS sound _really_ creepy. The Captain had only recently realised that talking to the AI without a preliminary contortion of his face was possible. He proceeded – with as much caution as was possible, for him.

"JARVIS is there, so you're technically not alone. Secondly, I'm always cool."

"What about a recipe? I don't remember the one I used before the war." Steve was half-heartedly trying to find a problem which Tony couldn't find an answer for, but without too much hope. The man was a genius.

"JARVIS?"

"The recipe you requested from the head chef of 'Eleven Madison Park's' computer for Mrs. Barton's birthday cake is on Captain Rogers' phone, sir."

"Thanks JARVIS. See Capsicle..." He stopped, suddenly remembering a conversation he'd had with Natasha not too long ago. His rare, genuinely good intentions went out the window. It was time to give Nat, and himself, a birthday present.

"Tell you what, Cap. No one knows electricity like Thor! Why not get him to help you? I'm sure it would mean even more to Natasha if you _both_ cooked it for her. Just think of all the times she's cooked for us. It's not like she'll be critical of whatever comes out."

"You think? Both she and Clint are really good…" The Captain's voice was hesitant, knowing that what Stark said was true, but seeking confirmation.

"Nat loves us all, she's even given up trying to hide it. She's aware of all our loveable little quirks, and likes us anyway. Mind you, what's not to like?"

Steve laughed, Stark was an arrogant narcissist, but actually a really nice guy if you only had to work with him when he cared about whatever it was you wanted to do. He tended to mind about the earth being destroyed.

"Yeah, right, keep telling yourself that, Stark. Ok, I'll ask Thor for a hand. Bye Tony." Steve ended the call after Tony farewelled him.

_Time to go collect Shakespeare._

* * *

Tony looked at his phone and spoke;

"JARVIS."

"Sir?"

"Record the feed from the kitchen until I say to stop."

"Very good, sir."

Tony grinned evilly as he watched his fiancé and BlackHawk walk out of the café they had just eaten in.

"Hey guys, you wanna cancel going wedding stuff shopping and come see a live comedy?" The way Tony grinned as he talked was more than enough to mildly concern all of them.

Silence.

"What have you done, Tony?" Pepper sounded resigned, though still clearly feeling trepidation.

"Given Natasha the best present ever." The smugness was palpable. And only mildly irritating after all the exposure they've had.

"Really. And what is that Stark?"

"Well Natasha, I'm glad you asked. Remember a conversation we had about brownies a while ago?" He watched as she suddenly closed her eyes and sighed.

"You set Steve and Thor up in the kitchen, didn't you? Probably guilt-tripped Steve into doing something because it's my birthday, with the domino effect on Thor." She was actually slightly impressed, Tony must have sounded extremely sincere if he managed to get Steve to agree to using the kitchen.

"A-huh, the spider gets a cigar. So, you guys wanna come?" The genius was bouncing with anticipation. _It was gonna be_ _good._

Clint and Natasha looked at each other and smiled a trifle guiltily. Agreeing to Stark's proposal wasn't necessarily the best idea, but it did sound kinda funny. And it was Natasha's birthday. Besides, they hadn't taken part in Tony and Bruce's incredibly sneaky, but ultimately unsuccessful scheme to get Steve and Miss America together, which meant Steve owed them. What the heck.

"Okay, Tony. _If_ you make a wager with us." Clint sounded confident and Nat smiled knowingly at Tony.

"Being? Make it interesting, Feathers." Though projecting his usual cocky exterior, Tony found that Natasha's smile was really freaking him out.

"If Steve and Thor manage to cook something properly, you are going to let Thor and Steve choose the movies for the next month. If they don't manage, Natasha won't withdraw brownies when you call our highly successful marriage 'BlackHawk'."

"You two fight dirty. I like it. Do you mind, Pep?"

Asking his soon-to-be wife if it would be ok to ditch wedding shopping for an afternoon was a very wise idea. The last time he signed them up for an activity that conflicted with wedding planning, she picked 'The Notebook" for movie night. The rest of the team had made sure that he had to stay through the whole thing, being extremely helpful getting drinks and snacks for him and Pepper, which assisted getting them out of watching 'the whole **** movie'.

"As long as we can go shopping tomorrow, and we don't let them get hurt." It was Tasha's birthday, if she wanted to watch live comedy, her best friend wasn't gonna stop her.

"Deal! Snack time kids!" He could suffer through Thor and Steve's movie choices if it meant that he could have fun with this group of evil conspirators. Plus he did love watching the reactions of the group when that pair were picking movies.

* * *

**A/N** According to the 2013 'Worlds 100 Best' restaurant list, Eleven Madison Park is the 5th best restaurant in the Sol system. It seems we don't include the _killer_ restaurants on Mars in our list. Tsk, tsk.


	3. Kitchen Fun

**Kitchen Fun**

"Steve, what is this food we are to make for Mrs. Barton's birthday celebration?" Curiosity mixed with apprehension. _Wonderful_, thought Steve.

"A chocolate Black Forest Cake, Thor." As he spoke, Steve was looking around in the pantry.

"Ah yes! Anthony has told me of this wonderful food. You dip sticks in chocolate, and then throw them at people, caking them in chocolate, correct? Hence the name 'chocolate Black Forest Cake'." Thor was experiencing profound feelings of relief, _this _he could do! Thank Asgard that Anthony had informed him of this strange yet wonderful food.

Steve was silent for a few seconds as he vacantly eyed the package of flour he was holding.

"It's possible that Tony was talking about his... _version_ of this cake. It's certainly not the traditional Black Forest." Steve was wavering between laughter and annoyance, did Tony _always _troll people for his own enjoyment? Unfortunately.

"Captain, you do not mean to say that Anthony mislead me, do you?" Thor's tone could have been used for an ad centering on 'concern'. Steve wasn't entirely sure how Thor had managed to live at Avengers Tower without gaining the fundamental understanding that their host had no compunction about taking advantage of his friends' cultural or time period confusion. He relented, perhaps there was another dish of the same name with that frankly _weird_ process.

21st Century, right?

"Maybe I'm just behind the times on this one, Thor. Now, how much flour does the recipe say we need?"

* * *

As they lounged in one of Stark's New York houses, Tony and Clint couldn't stop laughing.

"Really, _Anthony_? 'You dip sticks in chocolate, and then throw them at people!'" Clint was trying to imitate Thor's majestic accent, but owing to laughter and Natasha half lying on him, he was failing pathetically.

Pepper raised an eyebrow at Natasha, handed her a glass of water and nodded towards Clint. The group was seated on the leather sofa, with Natasha and Pepper in the middle, Clint and Tony by their sides.

"I'd forgotten telling Thor about cake! Oh love of my life, do I get another doughnut in celebration of my brilliance?" Pepper looked with faux despair at Natasha, who passed the doughnuts from Clint to Pepper, patting his hand gently when she observed his expression of complete and utter betrayal.

"You are extremely fortunate that I love you, Mr. Stark." She handed the box of doughnuts to Tony, frowning at him when he took two then smiling smugly when he handed one to her.

"What she said, Mrs. Barton." Clint was consoling himself by drinking his glass of water, whilst looking at Natasha with mournful eyes.

_"Captain, you do not mean to say that Anthony mislead me, do you?"_

"How has Thor not seen what a scoundrel you are yet Tony? And yes, Clint, Stark _is_ lucky that Pepper loves him." Natasha and Pepper calmly fist-bumped, nodded graciously at each other, then took a coordinated sip of their drinks.

"It must be because of the cupboard that is always full of pop-tarts. It's certainly not because of the way Tony –" Pepper coughed, "respects, privacy."

"Privacy's like road rules - something that you might or might not like to consider. Guidelines and suggestions. Besides, it's my tower!"

"_Our _tower, Tony. The _Avengers _tower." Pepper felt like she was talking to a brilliant, stubborn five year old.

* * *

"THOR! What was that for?"

"I apologize. I was not expecting the cake to have risen. It has nearly doubled in size! "

"Was it necessary to utterly crisp this completely _perfect_ cake because of that Thor? Didn't Tony already give you the talk about 'no using super/god powers in the tower unless it will save our lives?'" Exasperation was finally evident in his tone. It had been such a beautiful cake.

"I did not know it was meant to do that. What shall we do?"

Steve glanced gloomily around the smoky kitchen, annoyed about the destruction of what they had worked hard to make for Nat.

"Clean up and, call the cake shop I guess? I don't know, Thor."

* * *

Simultaneous cries rang out.

"What the-"

"JARVIS, are they ok?"

"Yes sir, they are uninjured physically, although Captain Roger's spirit may have been wounded."

"JARVIS? Are you feeling alright?"

"I apologize, sir. The lightning appears to have slightly damaged my personality core."

Blue Eiffel's 'I'm Blue' started to play through the speakers.

Tony started to laugh, "Obviously. Things are never dull are they? Poor Capsicle. What do we wanna do to help his wounded spirit recover?"

"Let's go back to the tower, help them clean up. Tasha and I could cook something with Steve maybe." Clint gently pushed Natasha up from on top of him as he spoke, if they could do something with Steve now, he wouldn't feel bad for too long.

"Hang on guys, how are we going to explain all of us suddenly returning?" Tony pulled Pepper up from where she was sitting in the couch.

"Tell him that we all decided it would be nice to come home and cook dinner for Natasha's birthday together. Then it's your job to occupy Thor so he doesn't electrocute JARVIS again. And send your jet to get Bruce from the D.C. hospital." Clint was the man with a plan.

Tony shrugged, sounded good to him.

* * *

"That was fantastic guys, thanks for cooking." As Bruce finished speaking, all of their phones rang.

All of them answered their phones, linking into a conference call with Director Fury.

"Boss-man! Wassup?" Tony's unconventional greeting had Steve rolling his eyes, Bruce face-palming and all of them holding phones further away from their ears, just in case.

"Avengers, assemble. The earth has need of your world class, world saving, world wide skills!"

With that, Nick Fury ended the call.

"You'd think that the novelty of saying that would have worn off for him, wouldn't you?" Clint frowned bemusedly at his phone.

"Apparently not. Well anyway, happy birthday Natasha! You'll have to open your presents when we get back from this 'world class' mission. He makes it sound like we'll be staying at a five-star hotel." Steve was feeling good again, his friends were always quick to see if they could help him.

"This was wonderful, thanks everyone." Natasha smiled at them all, skidding her chair back.

"Avengers! Toodle-pip-Pep!"

Pepper quietly laughed as she watched the group walk to the elevator, Bruce and Steve talking about the meal, Thor and Tony trying to trip them. Last into the elevator, Clint and Natasha holding hands, smiling and listening to the others talk about how they wanted to prank the Director. If Fury saw them like this, he might not be so blithe about asking them to save the world.

* * *

**A/N** I Hope it was worth the wait, please tell me what you think :)

Thanks everyone,

Alfheimchick


	4. A Tale, In Which The Truth Will Out

"Ladies, one more time. Smile!" _Why _Pepper had handed him her camera five minutes ago was a mystery to Steve, but he found he was enjoying it. Particularly between photos, when Natasha and Darcy would show their slowly growing exasperation with the 'photo shoot'. It was the first time he'd used a camera since Darcy had taught him a couple of weeks ago.

Everyone was in the pent-house of the Avengers Tower, celebrating Thor and Jane's engagement. Tony had come up with the couple name 'Thane', whilst Darcy's contribution had been 'Thorne'. Clint thought that 'Thundering Science' summed it up neatly.

After the camera had flashed _again, _Darcy bounced to Steve's side. "How'd they turn out?" She wasn't a fan of so many photos even on a good day, let alone when she was hanging with people who had modeled in Japan. Or could have, if they'd wanted to. Jane however, loved having friends to take photos with, so everyone put their brave face on and smiled.

"You tell me." He replied, handing her the camera. He enjoyed having Darcy around, she had quickly become a little sister to all of them. She was one of the few people who could explain things to him easily, and he appreciated that she took the time to help and listen.

"Perfect, Steve! Mind if I go and show these to Jane and make sure we're freeee?" Her expression of hope, yet slight trepidation made him nod quickly. She smiled, and quickly kissed him on the cheek before walking away.

* * *

Tony and Clint were standing, quietly laughing as Jane, Pepper and Natasha looked over Darcy's shoulder at the camera's screen. Clint snorted as Darcy's eyes rolled, then slid to where Natasha was currently sighing in exaggerated defeat as Pepper and Jane's squealed that this photo had apparently merited an, 'ohmygoshit'sperfect!'. Natasha breathed in relief when Jane took the camera from Darcy so that she and Pepper could go over the photos once more.

"Drink, Tash?" Darcy asked as she rolled her neck gingerly.

"After a 'photo session'? Hell yes. Several. Thank heavens I never went into modeling for real."

"You went into for fake?" She had found her poison of choice. Mountain Dew.

"Just as part of a couple of covers. Could you please pass one- make that two of those? Thankyou." Stark hadn't been surprised when he found that both of them liked Mountain Dew. He'd even started a monthly delivery coming since then, along with lots of Maltesers. They were Malteser fiends. They'd raided his secret stash in the lab when the communal supplies ran out during _Casablanca_.

"Wait a moment, Natasha. Does this mean that you don't love being part of 'ohmygoshit'sperfect' photos?" Tony's expression of utter horror made for a wonderful photo, which incidentally, Pepper found as Tony's caller ID photo the next day when he called. She looked pretty horrified too.

* * *

"What tradition is this? I have not heard of it."

"And that, big guy, is because it's part of the tradition that the bride's best friend only informs the groom at the engagement party. She also provides the means." Darcy Lewis had not attended drama at school for nothing, she was a ninja at keeping any inconvenient expressions - evil grins, for instance - miles away from her face. She dropped the phial into his hand. "Here it is."

"And I must empty this truth serum into Anthony's drink?"

"Yes, Thor. It's traditional." Well, it would be after this. Maybe. Hopefully.

"Thank you, Darcy. I shall complete this traditional quest."

She raised her glass in salute, blinking suddenly at the sudden voice, his tone mixing wariness with amusement.

"Why exactly is Thor going to be dosing Stark with truth serum?" Clint and Natasha were suddenly beside her, Natasha laughing, and Clint's eyes flicking between the two women.

"You managed to convince him?"

"Yes. Because I am an artist." Darcy smirked triumphantly, and Clint's eyes widened as their glasses met with a _ting._

"Why?" His drawn out word drew her attention again, and she tilted her head.

"Partly for the laughs, mostly as revenge on Thor and Steve's behalf for the, kitchen _incident_. Jane told me that if I thought Steve's moping was bad, I should see Thor's." Her expression was not amused, Steve hadn't wanted to play a prank on Stark for _days._

"Both very sound reasons." Natasha approved.

* * *

They had found out many useful and interesting things that evening, when courtesy of Bruce's serum that Darcy had commissioned, Tony was obliged to tell the truth without deflecting. They were able to tell Fury where some of Tony's illicit food stashes on the Helicarrier were. It came as a surprise to most that _The Princess Bride_ was his favorite movie, and there were a few _aww's_ when he told them that his favorite song was _Fresh Feeling_ by the Eels, because it reminded him of Pepper. The best answer of the evening however, was to the inquiry of what he was most grateful for.

"For all of you, for the friendship that each of you have given so fully. That I can be certain that there are people to trust and share things with."

* * *

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this, if you have any thoughts on how this could be better, or what you liked, please feel free to review :)

With hugs,

Alfheimchick


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